Euro Teams 2018 Round 15 Turkey.

So in match 3 of the day we face Turkey. Out of the blocks quickly when Turkey overstretch.

Board 1 North Deals None Vul	♠ 10 5 ♥ A K J 7 3 ♦ J 9 8 4 ♣ A 4
♠ K J 8 3 ♥ 9 5 ♦ Q 7 5 2 ♣ J 6 3	N W E S	♠ Q 9 7 6 ♥ Q 10 8 2 ♦ 6 3 ♣ K 8 5
	♠ A 4 2 ♥ 6 4 ♦ A K 10 ♣ Q 10 9 7 2

NS 3N; NS 3♥; NS 4♦; NS 3♣; NS 1♠; Par +400

Turkey went into 6

♣ and that was a warm start as it has no prayer.

Board 3 South Deals E-W Vul	♠ J 8 7 3 ♥ A K Q 7 ♦ 7 5 4 3 ♣ 8
♠ A 5 ♥ 8 5 2 ♦ A K Q 10 8 ♣ J 3 2	N W E S	♠ K Q 9 2 ♥ J 10 3 ♦ J ♣ A 10 9 7 4
	♠ 10 6 4 ♥ 9 6 4 ♦ 9 6 2 ♣ K Q 6 5

EW 3N; EW 2♠; EW 2♥; EW 3♦; EW 2♣; Par −600

Here Turkey went in 5

♣ and that failed against the Irish 3NT. 

As an aside someone told me legendary grandmasters BJ and Ranald also struggled on this board in their Seniors match. 

Board 4 West Deals Both Vul	♠ K 7 5 2 ♥ 8 4 ♦ A Q J 5 ♣ Q 3 2
♠ A 10 3 ♥ A Q 9 ♦ K ♣ A K J 10 5 4	N W E S	♠ J 8 6 4 ♥ 7 6 5 3 2 ♦ 6 3 ♣ 9 6
	♠ Q 9 ♥ K J 10 ♦ 10 9 8 7 4 2 ♣ 8 7

EW 3♥; EW 2♠; NS 1N; NS 2♦; EW 2♣; Par −140

The Turks went as high as 5

♥ and with 4♥ failing that was more imps for the Irish who managed to play in 2NT and get home. 

Our grandmasters in the Seniors attempted 3NT and found ♦s are not a grandmasters best friend.

Poor old Galligan is a little lost as to what went wrong on this hand. 

Once in my youth I ended up in 3NT with 1-1 ♦ and I tried the effect of trying to score my singelton KING. It failed as Doctor John Keane after a brief pause rose with his Ace ...felling my KING and continued Diamonds. However I was looking for a story not playing in the European Bridge championships. 

Board 5 North Deals N-S Vul	♠ 10 4 3 ♥ Q J 9 7 4 2 ♦ A J 10 ♣ Q
♠ K 6 ♥ A 10 3 ♦ 9 8 3 ♣ K 10 9 7 5	N W E S	♠ 9 5 ♥ 8 6 5 ♦ 6 5 4 ♣ A J 6 4 3
	♠ A Q J 8 7 2 ♥ K ♦ K Q 7 2 ♣ 8 2

NS 4♠; NS 4♥; NS 4♦; EW 1♣; Par +620

Here the Turks somehow missed the reasonable 4

♥ and at this stage it was Ireland up by 41-0.

Board 10 East Deals Both Vul	♠ K Q J 5 4 ♥ A 9 6 ♦ J 8 ♣ A Q 8
♠ A 10 ♥ K Q 10 8 5 ♦ K Q 3 ♣ J 4 2	N W E S	♠ 3 ♥ J 7 2 ♦ A 7 5 4 2 ♣ K 10 6 5
	♠ 9 8 7 6 2 ♥ 4 3 ♦ 10 9 6 ♣ 9 7 3

Then I presume our brave souls either sacced or advance sacced in 4♠ and 

got slapped for 800 ... Not much pain normally but when your teamies produce +90 its pretty sore. 

Now one can see that Teamies probably unleashed their 14-16 1NT opening and played there. 

However maybe they don't play the Hand Evaluation convention like Galligan does. 

Like if Galligan was on a 14-16 NT he would not be whinging about a system loss. 

Galligan would say .. 15 HIGH CARD POINTS .. A FIFTH HEART and TWO 10s = 17 HCP POINTS and on a sunshining day that is easily the next level of 1NT so we open 1♥ and on the sun shining days we might hit the 3 or 4 card HEARTS supp with ruffing values .. 

HAND EVALUATION is key. 

I gave a presentation on HAND EVALUATION in Malahide Regional Bridge Club recently. 

I had trouble pointing out that Axxx Axx Axx Axx was not the same as AT9x AT9 AT9 AT9.

However they got it I think. The 2nd hand might be 18-19..

So maybe our lads could have opened 1♥ and maybe lucked out and saved 6 imps.

Board 12 West Deals N-S Vul	♠ A K J 7 6 ♥ K 7 3 ♦ A Q 7 5 ♣ 7
♠ Q 8 ♥ A 8 6 ♦ K 6 3 ♣ 10 9 6 4 3	N W E S	♠ 10 ♥ J 10 5 2 ♦ J 10 9 8 4 2 ♣ A 2
	♠ 9 5 4 3 2 ♥ Q 9 4 ♦ — ♣ K Q J 8 5

NS 5♠; NS 4N; NS 2♥; NS 3♣; EW 1♦; Par +650

Anyway on the above board our NS bravely rolled into 6

♠ like almost half the field

They clearly are too good for Easley Blackwood or his Italian counterpart. 

Easley was an intelligent man .. He did counting for a living. 

Charging people for the pleasure of counting their money. 

He donated that ability to all bridge players young and old. However it does not appear to be allowed in European Open  championships. These guys are so good they don't need Blackwood or to know how many Aces they hold. 

All over Europe the joke goes ... "Yippee the Irish have reached slam ...Lets lead an Ace and partner will signal where his Ace is .. " So lets have a look and see how far the Irish diaspora has spread through Europe .. 

In the OPEN 12 pairs(out of 32) arrive in 6S or thankfully higher.. 

In the LADIES  only 2 pairs(out of 22) arrived in 6S

In the SENIORS we had another 4 PAIRS(Good man BJ)

So 18 of the best pairs in Europe bid a SLAM off 2 aces. 

Happily for Ireland the Turkish lads have balls of steel .. they bid 7S and our man put the double on it and got the signal about the 2nd ACE. 

MY FINAL POINT is Blackwood is for finding out how many ACES you are missing ...not how many you own. You can see the ones you own looking at you in your hand. 

Ireland by about 31 imps and Sunday was a decent day for IRELAND apart from about 30000 heads down in Tipperary and me who lost money on Tipperary. However Cavan won the battle of Aughrim as expected. 

The draw for the All Ireland qualifiers has been made and the 3 powerhouses of Cavan Mayo Tyrone remain apart as they are all 1st round qualifier winners. 

Mayo v Tipperary Tyrone v Carlow and Cavan v Down are the main events.